![Melopee School / XDGA - Xaveer De Geyter Architects - Exterior Photography](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/5f4d/d23e/b357/65f7/b000/0170/newsletter/XDGA_195_Melopee_School_Ghent_©Maxime_Delvaux_02.jpg?1598935598)
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Architects: XDGA - Xaveer De Geyter Architects
- Area: 4630 m²
- Year: 2020
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Photographs:Maxime Delvaux
![Melopee School / XDGA - Xaveer De Geyter Architects - Exterior Photography, Facade](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/5f4d/d26b/b357/651a/0300/020e/newsletter/XDGA_195_Melopee_School_Ghent_©Maxime_Delvaux_03.jpg?1598935643)
Text description provided by the architects. In the harbour area, a narrow stretch of land along a dock is freed from port activities. A very simple ‘chopstick’ urban plan is developed by O.M.A. in which green open pockets alternate with dense construction. In order to offer a notion of centrality to the linear plan, a public path is meant to cross the whole strip.
![Melopee School / XDGA - Xaveer De Geyter Architects - Exterior Photography](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/5f4d/d2b4/b357/651a/0300/0211/newsletter/XDGA_195_Melopee_School_Ghent_©Maxime_Delvaux_05.jpg?1598935716)
![Melopee School / XDGA - Xaveer De Geyter Architects - Image 23 of 27](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/5f50/f481/b357/6502/d100/009d/newsletter/195_MELOPEE_MULTI-FUNCTIONAL_SCHOOLBUILDING_GHENT_SECTIONS_AA.jpg?1599140975)
![Melopee School / XDGA - Xaveer De Geyter Architects - Interior Photography, Handrail](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/5f4d/d30b/b357/65f7/b000/0179/newsletter/XDGA_195_Melopee_School_Ghent_©Maxime_Delvaux_08.jpg?1598935803)
The site for the school faces one green area at its south side, the dock on its west side, a square and a housing block on the north, and the harbour road on the east. The requested program for the building, a combination of a primary school, after school care centre, a nursery, and sports facilities for both the school and its neighbourhood, is diverse and extensive.
![Melopee School / XDGA - Xaveer De Geyter Architects - Exterior Photography](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/5f4d/d339/b357/651a/0300/0217/newsletter/XDGA_195_Melopee_School_Ghent_©Maxime_Delvaux_09.jpg?1598935848)
![Melopee School / XDGA - Xaveer De Geyter Architects - Image 19 of 27](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/5f50/f441/b357/6502/d100/009c/newsletter/195_MELOPEE_MULTI-FUNCTIONAL_SCHOOLBUILDING_GHENT_floor_0.jpg?1599140911)
![Melopee School / XDGA - Xaveer De Geyter Architects - Exterior Photography](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/5f4d/d34d/b357/65f7/b000/017c/newsletter/XDGA_195_Melopee_School_Ghent_©Maxime_Delvaux_10.jpg?1598935869)
On top, it requires a great deal of specific outside playgrounds. In order to counter the lack of space, deal with the inside-outside complexity of programs and allow for the public path to pass, the maximum building envelope is divided into two halves: one compact building housing all interior functions, and outside space in which the playgrounds are stacked. In between both, and under a first-level playground realized in glass tiles, the path crosses the volume.
![Melopee School / XDGA - Xaveer De Geyter Architects - Exterior Photography, Glass](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/5f4d/d387/b357/651a/0300/0219/medium_jpg/XDGA_195_Melopee_School_Ghent_©Maxime_Delvaux_11.jpg?1598935928)
A galvanized steel skeleton unifies the two halves. On the side of the interior volume, the façades of the building are designed as a patchwork of opaque and translucent polycarbonate, glass, and aluminium louvres. The outside structure will be overgrown with vegetation climbing along with a steel mesh, in which some large ‘windows’ are cut out.
![Melopee School / XDGA - Xaveer De Geyter Architects - Exterior Photography](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/5f4d/d22a/b357/651a/0300/020b/newsletter/XDGA_195_Melopee_School_Ghent_©Maxime_Delvaux_01.jpg?1598935578)